no-bake blueberry cheesecake

I first made a version of these for one of my supper clubs back in the good old days when we’re were allowed to do crazy things like have dinner with friends.

This time I’m hosting an online Cookalong with a group of friends on Friday night so I thought I’d tweak the recipe to make it Zoom-friendly and get a quick practise in.

I streamlined the recipe a bit so it’s easier to make, but still really tasty, plus it can also be adapted to different tastes: you can switch the fruit, use fresh when it’s in season and choose the nuts and biscuits that you prefer for the base.

Cheesecake is one of my favourite ever desserts as I love the combination of crunch, cream and fruit; this is a quick no-bake version that’s ready in minutes, but tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen!

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 120g frozen blueberries

• 2 tsp soft brown sugar

• 15g / 1 tbsp almonds or any other nut

• 100g cream cheese, room temp

• 40g/ 2 tbsp crème fraiche, room temp

• 1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

• 2 Digestive or Hobnob biscuits

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160ºc.

• Add the blueberries and sugar into a medium sized pan and warm gently with the lid on for 5 minutes and then take it off for a further 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

• Put the nuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 7 minutes. Leave to cool.

• Whisk the cream cheese and crème fraîche in a small bowl with a fork.

• Add the icing sugar and whip with a fork.

• Put the cooled nuts in a bag or teacloth and gently bash with a rolling pin.

• Then add the biscuits to the bag and repeat.

• Put half the digestive and nut mix into the glass, spoon over half the cream mix, top with blueberry compote and then repeat all 3 layers.

tip

• Feel free to switch the fruit if there’s a berry you prefer, but remember to adjust the amount of sugar depending on sharpness. You need minimal extra sugar for blueberries as they’re naturally quite sweet, but lots more for raspberries or blackberries.

• I suggest using frozen berries to keep the cost down and you can either turn the whole bag into compote or save the rest for smoothies. Compote will keep in the fridge for 3-4 weeks and is great on all kinds of breakfast cereals - porridge, museli, granola. Read my post on compote here.